Curiosity was Arrested and Charged with Murder
by Mae34
Summary: Candice and her team run into the NCIS team during a murder investigation. So who leads when there's no leash involved? - Written for the NFA's Dogs Have Owners; Cats Have Staff Challenge
1. Chapter 1

It was always the deplorable acts like these when Jake questioned the 'humanity' in humans. Times like when he witnesses a man hit a defenseless animal or when a sick woman has no one to support her and dies alone.

Times like when he's looking at the shredded remains of another dog, just like him. The evidence was there; blood at the mouth, the thin criss-cross slices across the body until the poor dog's guts... well, Jake didn't want to think about it.

Two facts were certain; this dog's death was violent and the dog's killer was human.

'Humanity' indeed.

Jake looked away from the corpse of the German Shepherd, trying to keep his breakfast, and studied the tabby cat sitting next to him. Candice remained stoic as her eyes examined the murder scene in front of them.

"What are we going to do?" he asked her.

He knew there was a plan. There had to be. Candice always had some reasoning behind her actions even if she never told the others.

For example, even after all these months, she never mentioned the reason why she brought on a newly-strayed golden retriever into her pack. Jake could spend an entire lifetime going nuts trying to figure that out.

Candice didn't answer Jake. Instead, her eyes moved to the group of humans on the far side of the park. From what Jake could see and hear, there was a young woman who also was murdered this morning.

There were six humans in jackets with bold lettering. They moved and swayed like flies, taking pictures and writing on papers. A couple of humans in different clothing stood around the area, guarding the pack from any distractions.

"Candice," Jake tried again. "What's the plan?"

One of the humans noticed the cat and dog sitting in the distance and started walking over to them to check them out.

Jake yipped, moving away from the corpse towards the safety of the forest nearby. Humans meant trouble for any beast, dog or cat.

He was halfway to the trees before he realized Candice wasn't behind him. He stopped and turned to find the cat wasn't moving. In fact, she was still sitting where Jake left her and was staring down the human as he moved closer. When the human was a few feet away from the cat and the body, he stopped and they both continued to stare at the other.

Jake whined in nervousness and anticipation. As the seconds passed in this ultimate stare-down, Jake realized he was witnessing something crucial that only the two alphas could comprehend.

The two looked nothing alike, being two different species and all. The human was an older man, evident in his graying hair and the way Jake saw him ordering the humans around earlier. Candice was a gray tabby cat and a stray, through and through. She clawed her way through the world and gained respect for it from any animal who knew her.

There were some similarities though. Both moved with authority and purpose. Both studied their surroundings for threats and turned in ways to protect the ones they considered their responsibilities.

They both were hunters.

'Oh, crap,' Jake thought. 'This is the human version of Candice.'

Maggie and Austin would go ballistic at the idea and he wished they were here to bear witness to this strangeness.

Just when he thought he saw it all, Candice looked away from the human first. She gave a short nod before getting up and walking to where Jake stood.

Candice conceded to a human. Candice actually backed down against at human.

Forget ballistic. There was no way Maggie and Austin would believe him if he told them. Even he couldn't believe it and he just saw it.

"Sit, Jake," Candice commanded when she got close and, ever the obedient dog, he sat. Jake got a little nervous when she continued by him. That nervousness was well founded when she called back to him, "Stay, Jake."

"What?" Jake nearly bolted to catch up to the cat, but her orders only made him pace in one spot. "Stay to watch, right?" he asked, hopeful that this was simply a recon.

Candice turned and flicked an ear, a sign they all learned meant that Candice was amused.

In fact, it was the only sign they knew.

"Nope," she responded. "Sit and stay right where you are."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what."

Jake looked back at the humans. The older man was already back to the others, giving out some more commands, probably telling them to look at the slain dog they found.

"They'll call Animal Control if I stay here," Jake whimpered. He couldn't handle that. Not again.

"No, they won't."

Jake's ears perked up in surprise. Candice seemed so certain. "They won't?"

"No. You're here as evidence. They'll take you in as evidence and I need you on the inside to keep track of their investigation. No Animal Control involved."

"They're humans. They have to call."

Candice's ear flicked again. "Trust me. They won't."

"Trust-" Jake yipped out before he realized she was already leaving to continue the investigation on their end. "Candice?"

Candice reached the nearest tree and climbed it like she was born in one. "Good boy!" she shouted to him.

Then, in a blink of an eye, she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes, it was scary how correct one cat can be. Jake stayed in his spot and it went exactly as Candice predicted. There was some dispute from the pack about getting the Animal Control people. At that point, Jake just sat and whined at the idea.

What they saw was a well-behaved golden retriever and Candice's human, 'Gibbs', ordered them to bring all the dogs in as evidence, alive and deceased.

Sometimes, it was scary how much alike one human can be to their fearless leader.

This was how he found himself in a kennel, in the basement of some lab, being cared for by a very hyperactive and pleasant woman named Abby. Before she left for food and treats, she cooed over him and scolded anyone nearby who even thought about calling the pound to take him away.

Not figuratively, literally. She yelled at someone for just having a thought.

If it weren't for the confines of the metal cage, it would have been quite amusing.

Stupid cage. He hadn't been in one of these things since he was a puppy and in training. He didn't mean to chew everything in the house and Sam-

No, now wasn't the time for thoughts like that.

"Jake? Is that you in there?"

Jake perked up at the familiar twang. "Austin?"

It took him a few moments and a couple circles around the cage to find the Siamese cat trying to peek over some bottles from outside one of the small windows.

"You doin' alright?"

"I'm fine," Jake sighed. "More humiliated than anything. Please tell me Maggie isn't here to-"

Jake couldn't even finish the question before he heard Maggie off in the distance.

"Did you find him?" Maggie shouted.

She must have been getting closer because Austin simply waited a few moments before he didn't have the need to yell back his answer. "I found him first, Mags. You be ownin' me supper for a week."

Jake finally saw the German shepherd nearly slide into Austin and peered into the window. "Hey, Jake! There you are. What's with the cage?"

Jake decided it was best just to ignore the question before she could really go on about his degrading situation. "Why are you two even here?"

"Candice told us where you were and wanted us to keep an eye on you," Austin answered.

Maggie laid down and tried to get up as close to the window so she could to survey the predicament her fellow canine was in.

"She also wanted to know if you've learned anything yet," she continued. "Candice suspects there was a connection between the two deaths."

"That's what they think, too," Jake confirmed. "Owner and pet. The killer attacked the woman and killed the dog when he tried to defend her. They both have evidence of fighting back their murderer."

Austin tilted his head and his tail twitched as he contemplated the facts. "Only one killer? Two to one are not favorable odds for just one man."

"Especially when both victims were trained," Maggie added. "We were able to confirm that. Petty Officer Hannah Parker had basic combat skills and her dog, Max, was top in his obedience class. They were not easy pickings."

"The human, Parker, was shot." Jake was able to over hear that easily enough from Abby's conference with Gibbs on the ballistics of the weapon. "Max was stabbed multiple times and then shot as well."

"Robbery gone wrong?" Maggie theorized.

"Or sexual assault?" Austin countered. "The victim was a woman after all."

Jake shook his head. "There weren't signs of either."

Austin wasn't deterred from the possibility. "The killer could have been interrupted."

"We'll have to report this to Candice," Maggie noted to Austin. The cat nodded and disappeared from Jake's view.

"Whoa, hey!" Jake objected before Maggie could run off too. "What about me? How long do I have to stay here?"

"Well, you're all comfy in that cage. I wouldn't want to disturb you."

"Maggie," Jake growled. She was enjoying this way this way too much and they both knew she was going to continue to rag on him well after this was all over. Or, at least, until the next humiliation.

"Candice said just a little while longer. You know how she is."

They both heard the chime of the elevator opening and the steps of heavy boots heading towards the lab.

Maggie laughed and got up from her spot. "You stay and be a good dog and maybe you'll be let out soon."

Jake grumbled at her playfulness and watched as she too ran off from Jake's view.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Abby?"

Jake picked up his head when a voice sounded at the entrance of the lab.

It was another man from the crime scene. Agent, Tim, McGeek, McWoof, McSomething. The guy had so many names, Jake wasn't exactly sure which one was the real one.

"McGee! You've been working on the 'Gibbs sense'. I was just about to call you." Abby turned and looked confused at the empty space beside her until she realized McGee was still standing at the door.

"Tim..."

Jake huffed and laid his head back on his paws. Seriously. What was with all the names?

Abby shook her head and pulled the man into the room and towards the cage. Jake quickly sat up at the sudden attention from the two humans.

"You remember the last case that involved a dog. I still have the scars."

Abby rolled her eyes and pushed him towards Jake.

"You're being paranoid. McGee, this is Thom. Thom, McGee."

"You named him after my pen name?" McGee asked in disbelief.

Jake softly whined and laid back down. He much preferred his own name, thank you very much.

"Well, I saw him and he looks so cute and fluffy. I thought about your book and it kind of went from there."

McGee may have been trying to glare at Abby, but the look he had looked sadder than those puppies Jake has seen in that downtown pet shop. "My writing's not that bad," he muttered under his breath.

"'Cute and fluffy'," Abby agreed and then smiled and playfully punched his arm. "Did you bring me anything, McGee, or did you come here to meet the newest addition of the NCIS family?"

"You're not keeping him, Abby."

"No, my landlord is still a dictator on that part of my lease," she grumbled. "But I already have a good home picked out for him."

"I'm not keeping him, Abby."

Abby was much better at the glare. "I already talked to the Director," she continued. "He mentioned that his kids were trying to talk him into getting a dog."

Jake's ears perked up at the news. So much happened this past year: losing Sam, becoming a stray on the streets, joining Candice's pack. He never even had the chance to consider the idea of being adopted into a new family.

The thought was...appealing.

Jake settled on laughter and chasing balls and regular mealtimes before realizing the two humans were still talking.

"- to go to Gibbs with this, Abby. It might be a stretch even for him."

"No theory is too irrelevant until it's proven to be irrelevant. What do you have?"

Prompted, McGee stepped up to one of the computers and started typing away. Abby peered over his shoulder, looking at the information he brought up on the screen.

"I was going through the usual stuff: background checks, phone logs, arrest records...when I came across this local police report. A family reported an attack on their dog."

"'Destruction of property'!" Abby fumed. "What kind of LEO writes something so...so..." She ended up just growling, unable to think of the unthinkable.

"He probably wouldn't have filed the report if the family wasn't so insistent on it," McGee carefully added. "The couple let the dog go into the backyard and when he didn't return, went looking for him. They found the body at the edge of the property with several knife wounds and no witnesses of the attack. The police thought that it was a disgruntle neighbor, didn't bother questioning anyone and just submitted the report."

"What kind of world of do we live in where dogs can't run free in their own backyard?"

Jake whined in agreement.

McGee turned away from the monitor and looked at Abby. "What if the target wasn't Petty Officer Parker?"

"You're thinking the target was Max." Jumping at the idea, Abby took over control of the keyboard and dove into finding information on McGee's working theory.

"Maybe. The police report has a similar MO as the murder. Both attacks involved German Shepherds. I don't know. Like I said, it's a stretch."

Jake jumped up as if shocked by electrical wire.

German Shepherds.

If this McGee was right, there was a killer close by who was targeting German Shepherds.

Maggie was close by too.

Mags...


	4. Chapter 4

Jake did the only thing he could do in the situation; he barked and whined and kept on barking until the two people in the room noticed him.

"What's going on with him?"

"He's been in there for a couple hours, McGee. I'd be bouncing too. My babies are running everything as we speak, so I'll let him out now."

"Abby..."

Jake noticed the leash in Abby's hand and noticed the slight step back from McGee but what he really noticed was the Abby's hand moving to unlock the kennel door.

'Come on, come on,' Jake silently encouraged between his whines and barks. 'Have to warn Mags.'

The moment the latch sprung from the door, Jake pushed the door with all his might. He ignored the sharp sting from scraping his sides and he ignored the exclamations from the humans as he darted past them and out of the lab.

Jake came down here in the elevator, but he knew there had to be some stairs nearby with an exit. The trail to freedom was heavy with the scent of moving people and fresh air.

There.

Up a small flight of stairs was a door with a bar across it and the light on the ceiling. Both were sure signs pointing to the outside.

Jake hit the bar with as much force as his escape from the cage and, all of a sudden, collided with the brightness and intensity of the sun. He thought he heard a loud noise assaulting his ears when he hit the bar, but he already racing across the parking lot to even care.

Then he stopped.

Just stopped.

The force of the sudden halt scraped his claws on the pavement and he just stood there for a moment, forcing air in and out of his lungs.

He didn't know where to go. They could be anywhere right now.

The separation was painstaking.

"Jake!"

Jake nearly collapsed with relief. "Austin."

Austin ran as fast as he could to the motionless dog, dodging parked cars and glancing at the commotion going on in the building Jake just left. Austin's tail twitched as his run turned into a trot the closer he got to Jake.

The Siamese was ready for danger.

"What's happenin', Jake? Ya just tore outta there like a scalded haint."

"Where's...Maggie?" Jake asked in-between trying to control his breathing after his sudden exertion.

"With Candice," Austin replied. "They're tryin' to find witnesses to the attack. Why?"

"They suspect... the target was...Max." His breath was getting better but his heart was still racing. "There was another attack... on a German shepherd. Max was the target," he repeated.

Austin's ears flicked and his tail swayed like crazy.

"That ain't possible, Jake," Austin stated but Jake could still see the connection of Jake's distress and his report running through his head. "I ain't never heard of a human targetin' pets."

Neither did Jake. Usually in human crimes involving pets, the animal victim was either an escalation on a human conflict or a warning to someone.

The owner was at the scene of the crime and killed as well. Where was the escalation or warning if the pet was the target?

Jake would feel better if he knew where Maggie was.

"Austin? Can we-" he didn't get the chance to finish before Austin was already heading off in the direction Jake assumed was an exit.

"I know a shortcut," Austin shouted to him. "Come on!"

Jake, ever the obedient dog, chased after the cat.


	5. Chapter 5

Austin led them back to the park where the scene of the crime took place. Maggie was hidden behind the merry-go-round, having a conversation with one of the park's squirrels.

Well, it was more like the grey squirrel was chatting away about something and Maggie was tuned out, sitting in a crouched position. It looked like Maggie was trying very hard to decide between dying of boredom or pouncing on the squirrel just to shut it up.

Once the squirrel saw the two animals running towards them, it stopped mid-sentence and ran up and around the nearest tree.

Maggie looked up at the cause of the fast exit. "I'm not sure whether to whack you for interrupting my interview or lick you right now."

"You're okay," Jake sighed in relief.

Maggie just sat up in confusion. "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"What's going on?"

The sudden question from the merry-go-round made Jake jump in surprise and Austin's tail may have poofed out a little. Both Austin and Jake turned to find Candice sitting on the play equipment, perched there to most likely supervise Maggie's interview. Squirrels never would be that talkative without the right motivation.

"I...ah," Jake started, feeling like he was over-reacting now that he could see Maggie was unharmed.

"Jake overheard someone sayin' there was another attack," Austin offered. "The second victim was another German Shepherd."

"And what?" Maggie snorted. "You thought that all German Shepherds were in danger and I needed to be rescued?"

"I just wanted to warn you," Jake meekly responded.

"Warn me? There's no such thing as a serial dog killer, pup. And even if there was, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

Maggie stomped her paw with force and stared sternly at the Golden Retriever for a few moments before looking to the ground.

"Thank you."

_Thank you for caring_ went unspoken.

"This theory does change things."

Maggie turned to Candice in surprise. "You can't honestly believe this, Candice. Where has there ever been a case where a human was murdered for her dog? It doesn't happen."

"Except for the fact that we can't find any other motive. We're at a dead end here, Maggie," Candice stated. "Let the humans pursue the human murder. We'll take this one."

Maggie silently considered Candice's explanation.

"Unless you want to talk to some more squirrels?" Candice continued.

That got a response. Maggie's ears perked up and there was a slight whine at the thought. "Okay, fine."

Candice turned to Jake. "Did you get the address to the second attack?"

Jake could only lower his head. He was so concerned on getting to his pack that he didn't think to make an attempt on getting more details. Candice was sure to bop him on the nose for the lack of foresight.

But she didn't. She just sat there and calmly told him, "It's alright. I'm sure the word has already spread to the birds. They'll likely know where it happen."

Maggie snorted at the suggestion. "The birds are even worse than the squirrels! None of them are going to talk to us."

"Then talk to Ducky."

There were two different responses from the two dogs. Jake wagged his tail while Maggie groaned and covering her paws at the idea.

Jake didn't know what the big deal was. He liked the old husky. Ducky was once a pet like Jake but now spent the last of his days watching the ducks around the harbor. Everyone liked him and Jake suspected it was because Ducky always had a ear to lend if you needed someone to listen. It didn't matter who you were; dog, cat, human, fowl. Ducky pretty much was able to keep up on the gossip around the city for this reason.

"I can go talk to Ducky," Maggie stated. "But don't blame me if I end up being late to the rendezvous."

Ah. While Ducky was a good listener, he also had a tendency to talk just as much.

"That's fine. Jake and Austin can make sure you're not delayed."

"Hey now!" Maggie protested. "I just told the pup that I'll be fine! I don't need the dog sitters." She gave a quick glare at both Jake and Austin. Jake took a couple steps back to express his lack of endorsement and Austin just sat where he's been the whole time, head going back and forth at the match between the German Shepherd and their tabby leader.

"Whoever is out there might not just be a danger to German Shepherds, Maggie. I want you all to watch each other tails on this case," Candice responded, giving her no say in the matter. "Go see what you can find out about the second attack and meet back here."

"And where are you going to be?" Maggie asked as they watched Candice jump off the merry-go-round.

"I'm going to go see a man about a dog," she answered as she walked away from the group. "Go see Ducky!" was her final order before she left.

"I wonder what that was about." Austin said more to himself than the two dogs as they watched her walk away.

"Maybe she's going to visit her human counterpart," Jake suggested.

Maggie and Austin turned to the Golden Retriever with a double expression of confusion and disbelief before Jake realized he never got the chance to explain their encounter this morning at the crime scene.

"Oh! You are never going to believe this, but there's a human Candice!"

"You're right. I don't believe it." Maggie shuddered. "One Candice is quite enough. I don't think the world can ever handle two."


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, that was fun," Maggie uttered as they headed down the suburban street towards their destination. The sarcasm dripped from her words.

"Well, I thought it was rivetin'," Austin countered. "Who knew there be a ghost cat hauntin' the Capitol building?"

"We need to try that restaurant Ducky recommended," Jake commented. "The bacon wrapped in chicken sounded really good."

"I do love bacon."

"Enough!" Maggie stopped and sat down with as much exasperation as she could conjure. "I can't stand when cats and dogs agree on anything. Especially you two. It makes me nervous."

"But bacon," Austin mewed.

"Fine, lunch after. Case now."

Jake looked around the estate Maggie plopped herself right in front of. It was a nice, light blue ranch house with a good-size front yard and Jake would guess that the back yard was twice as big. The tall, wooden fence matched the color of the house and wrapped around both sides of the property, leaving only the side facing the street open for anyone to come and go. Short, bushy shrubs along the sidewalk were the natural boundaries to the property.

It looked like a wonderful place for a dog to keep his food bowl in.

"How do you know this is the place?" Jake asked before he could reminisce on could-haves. "Ducky didn't have the exact address, just the street name."

"Please pup," Maggie scoffed. "I am a trained sniffer. The scent of 'German Shepherd' is heavy around this area. I can tell."

Jake lifted his ears in surprise. As a dog, he knew their sense of smell was much better than humans, but to tell the breed of a dog on scent alone was impressive.

"Ya also have that bumper sticker 'I heart German Shepherds' on that there SUV."

Austin, thankfully, ruined that illusion.

"Even so," Maggie continued without missing a beat, "this would be the place to look around. I'm betting there's a hole somewhere around this fence for the killer to sneak around or through. The front here is too conspicuous."

"I'll go look around back," Austin offered. Maggie nodded and Austin disappeared into the bushes.

"That leaves us with the leg work, pup." Maggie took a sniff and headed to one side of the fence.

Jake decided that was his cue to sniff around on the other side of the yard. The air was heavy with roses and forget-me-nots while only having just a hint of a dog once calling this patch of ground 'home'.

The scent was faded now and would continue to fade.

"You're getting too close to my territory, Sweetheart," a voice suddenly called from above his head.

On the defense, Jake backed away from the fence and his head moved up to the source of the sudden intrusion.

She was a Maine Coon, fur long and grey, sitting on top of the wooden fence like it was solid ground.

"Get on the other side of this fence and I'll make your life a living hell," the cat growled.

Jake growled back at the threat.

"Hey now," Maggie soothed. Jake noticed the German Shepherd calmly jaunting up from her side of the yard to make a stand next to Jake. "We're only passing through, so can't we all just get along?"

The message was clear. Two against one were better odds than any trouble the Maine Coon would provide.

Or three against one. Austin must have heard the commotion and briskly walked along the top of the fence until he sat a few meters away from the Maine Coon.

The Maine Coon gave a deep-throated growl to acknowledge the threats then, in a snap, flicked her tail and a wrapped it around her body like the animals surrounding her meant nothing to her.

And they probably didn't mean anything to her. Jake saw the long, jagged scar that ran down the cat's throat and across her body. She survived a lot worse than anything a few measly strays could do to her.

"You must be here about that pup, Aristotle," she purred. "I was wondering when you mongrels were going to sniff around. It seemed like your kind of case."

Maggie took the lead. "Did you see what happened that night?"

The Maine Coon flipped the tip of her tail. "Sorry, Sugar. I was out visiting one of my 'suitors' that night. Didn't see a thing."

"Do you know who might have?" Jake asked.

She glared at Jake and scowled. "Look, that dog was annoying. Aristotle barked at all hours of the night, he got out and dug up my master's garden. He had to be in everyone's business. My master didn't like that and he made it known that he hated that damn dog. Those stupid humans over there think my master was the one who killed him."

"But you don't think that," Maggie concluded.

The Maine Coon looked over her shoulder to gaze at the house Jake assumed was her home. Jake saw that look in pets before. The cat was tough but she loved and she was loved.

That was the look of devotion.

"What was done to that dog was horrible," the Maine Coon said. "My master didn't do it. I know he didn't."

"Then who did?"

The Maine Coon looked back at Maggie.

"Someone did it and, if it wasn't your master, you had to have seen something," Maggie stated.

"I told you. I wasn't there that night."

"What about other nights? Was there someone creeping around. Did someone else threaten Aristotle?"

The cat stiffened her spine and her tail poofed out a little. She clearly didn't like the direction of the interview. "I haven't been around, you mutt. I have quite a few toms on my table and the persistent barking was getting on my last nerve. I didn't see anything."

The German Shepherd and Maine Coon stared at each other, one looking down in defiance and the other in calm contemplation. Jake assumed that Maggie was trying some trick she picked up from Candice in which to pull the answers from a suspect from glare alone.

Or Maggie could be contemplating bacon-wrapped chicken. Jake never could predict what was going on inside her head.

Finally, Maggie nodded and wagged her tail. "I believe you," she said. "Thank you for your time. If you think of anything else, let one of the neighbor birds know and I'm sure it will get to us."

The Maine Coon rolled her eyes and flicked her tail. Jake suspected that it would be a snow day in paradise before the cat considered contacting them, but protocol was protocol.

"Ma'am," Austin acknowledged before he jumped down to join the two dogs in parting.

"I hope you find the monster who did this," the Maine Coon called out. "He was no shelter pet but there isn't a dog in the world who deserved what happened to Aristotle."

"That was a dead end," Maggie said as soon as they were far enough away from hearing distance. "We can look around some more, but I don't think this is the leash to pull, pup."

"You don't know that, Mags," Jake replied. "The intruder had to know some way to get in so he'd have to scope the area out. There's a lot of potential witnesses in the area."

"Unless he's reading the meter or delivering the mail. Humans are unobservant and animals just don't care. No one's looking at this lead."

"Or not," Austin chimed in. "Someone be lookin'"

The dogs looked to the road where Austin was indicating and saw a black sedan pull up in front of the house. When they saw the three humans get out, Jake yipped and dove into the nearest bush.

"What are you doing?" Maggie asked like the dogs in her charge always did strange things like this and she was forced to suffer through it.

"Those are the humans from the crime scene," Jake growled from the plant. "They're looking into this too or don't you remember?"

"Huh. I didn't think they would go far enough out of their way to look into a pet's death."

"Obviously not, Mags!"

"Well, that was fun," the dark-haired man said to the other man in their group. The sarcasm dripped from his words. "Whose idea was it to let Ziva drive?"

"Tony, she called shotgun," McGeek (McGoo? McPet? Jake still didn't know.) replied as they headed towards the front door.

"That's not how 'shotgun' works, Probie!"

"I know that and you know that, but she just grabbed the keys and ran out before I could correct her."

The woman in the group threw up the keys and caught them in her hand. "I really do not understand that rule. You told me that 'shotgun' was for the seat up front. The drivers seat is up front, so I called it."

Tony studied Ziva and unable to get a clear answer on her obtuseness, he muttered something no one could hear before knocking on the door.

"Let's get out of here," Jake whispered. "I don't want to be caught in that again."

Maggie and Austin agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, we have two dogs," Jake worked through as they headed back to their rendezvous at the park's merry-go-round.

"They live in two different parts of the city," Austin continued.

"And we haven't found any ties with their owners," Maggie threw in next. "Max's owner was a marine and Aristotle's owners work at the local university."

"What are we missing?"

"Well, we know what's different. What's the same?"

"They're the same breed."

"Same weapon killed both of them."

"They were both attacked away from the safety of their homes."

"They were the same age," another voice chimed in.

All three of them jumped.

"Bells, Candice!" Maggie panted out. "We need bells. I don't think my heart can take it."

Candice jumped from the tree behind them and into their circle where they conferred. "I need you on your toes, Mags."

Jake wasn't paying attention to the banter in front of him. There was something there in what Candice said and Jake just needed to figure out the connection.

"Same litter," Jake blurted out before he could even register what he said.

Candice's ears flickered. Jake took that to mean that she already made the connection and was pleased that they were able to keep up.

"They were litter-mates?" Maggie asked. "How did we miss that?"

"Do y'all remember your siblings?" Austin countered. "We usually only have some precious few weeks together before we all are off to our respective lives."

"I have a sister in the navy," Maggie tried to defend. She paused to reconsider. "...I'm almost certain she works in the navy. I heard something about her getting a medal."

"If there is a chance they were litter-mates," Jake continued before they went on a tangent, "Then how do we connect the family tree? Even I barely remember where I was born."

"Someone else had to have made the connection," Candice responded.

"Shelter pet."

All three heads turned to Maggie.

"That Maine Coon said he wasn't a shelter pet."

"So?" Austin asked.

"_Shelter pets aren't sheltered_," Maggie quoted.

It took a great effort for Jake not to be surprised. The statement Maggie just recited as if on reflect was one closely guarded by those pets who had been through the shelter system. Jake knew it from his brief time in one after he lost Sam, but Maggie never gave any clue that she had been in one either.

It was one of those little facts that always dejected Jake in this crazy, messed-up group. Everyone around him had their mysterious pasts and their secret lives, while Jake's own life was so easily read in his grief and his pain and his naivety.

It simply wasn't fair sometimes.

"Why would that matter, Maggie?" Jake asked without trying to sound too sour. "It's not uncommon for litters to be given away when they're pups. A lot of pets aren't shelter pets."

"So, my dear pup, we can try to trace the 'free puppies' signs, but there are really only two main ways to sniff a trail on a pet's family history. One is through the shelters. Since he wasn't in one, there goes that option."

"Then what's the other option?"

"Breeders," Candice answered for them.

"Breeders," Maggie agreed. "We have two _purebred_ dogs. There's no connection of family, friends or co-workers between the owners. It makes sense."

"It's a long shot," Jake argued.

"Rule twenty-six," Candice shot back.

Jake sighed and recited the rule. "Too many coincidences adds up to a conclusion."

Maggie stood up and looked to Candice for permission. "I have some...sources I can ask about breeders in the area. Give me an hour and I can get an address."

'Sources,' Jake thought. It only added more mystery on Maggie's past. Some days she was rough as any wild dog and, other days, she could recite dog show rules from memory.

"Go," Candice told her and she sprinted off as if Candice did give her a time limit.

Jake would have told her to be careful, but there were only a few scarier things in life than Maggie with a goal.


	8. Chapter 8

The address Maggie found was way outside the city to a point where the four animals had to jump on the subway to get out there. An hour walk and they found the house where Max and Aristotle were once born and raised.

"Whoa."

Jake couldn't help but be impressed at the large, white house with tall Greek columns framing the building. The building had to have been at least a century old with the sense of history and stories that seemed to seep from the wood. The perfectly trimmed lawn reached out as far as the horizon and, in the distance, Jake could make out a fence and large barn where a couple young fillies ran free.

"Can I help you?" a black cat greeted them from top of a rock wall when the group reached the mailbox. They were use to a sentry and guard for a place this large so the meet-and-greet wasn't too much of a surprise. Jake was a little curious that it was a sleek, thin cat like this tom. Usually, sentries were dogs.

Candice, being both leader and fellow cat, took charge of the conversation. "We're looking for information on a couple of pups that might have come through this way."

"We had quite a few pups," the black cat agreed. "Which ones are you looking for?"

"A couple of German Shepherds named Max and Aristotle."

"Yeah, those are our pups." The cat jerked his head in invitation. "My name's Kit and if you start singing the 'Kit Kat' song, I guarantee there will be pain."

"Fair enough."

It wasn't fair because, as they trotted down the driveway, all Jake could do was sing the jingle in his head.

"So what do you need to know? Are the pups in trouble?" Kit questioned, curiosity getting at hold the cat.

"We're investigating a couple of attacks," Candice informed him as vague as possible. "Who would be the best animal to talk to about their time here?"

Kit stopped dead right in the middle of the driveway forcing the group to stop with him.

"Attacks? I watched those two dogs grow from the size of beans. I don't know what you are thinking but there is no way they would ever provoke an attack on anyone."

Candice sighed and Jake tried hard not to show any emotion on what she was about to pronounce.

"We're not investigating dog attacks," Candice stated.

"But you're asking about our dogs," Kit proceeded. "You wouldn't be here if they-"

The cat paused, thinking through all the scenarios to their presence.

"They're not okay, are they?"

The silence was enough to answer him.

"Dead?"

"I'm sorry," Candice consoled.

Kit took a huge sigh, as if deciding to deal with his grief later, and continued to lead the group down the driveway. "Poor Sunshine. She's not going to take this well."

"Sunshine?"

"Their mother. Both Max and Aristotle were her pups."

The sounds of a car hitting gravel behind them made the group turn off the road and they watched as a black sedan moved pass them.

"They had the same conclusion we did," Jake told Candice when they noticed the humans inside the vehicle. He guessed that was a good sign.

Candice continued to watch the car heading towards the house. "Looks like."

When they parked, all four humans got out. Even the older leader of the pack was here to talk to couple who owned the house.

"Austin," Candice commanded. "You're with me. Maggie and Jake, you'll have to talk to Sunshine without us."

Jake was beginning to have a bad feeling about this. "Where are you going?"

"We're checking out what they have to say," Candice said before she headed towards the house with Austin trailing behind.

"But-"

"Jake." It was Maggie who cut him off and it was the seriousness of her tone that made him listen. "We need to tell a mother that she just lost her whelps."

And what Maggie was trying not to say was that two strange cats in the vicinity weren't going to help the situation. Despite the changing times, there were still some temperament between cats and dogs.

Jake glanced back at the two cats before he followed Kit and Maggie towards the barn.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Almost there! Just the epilogue after this which I'll post next.

Sunshine whined, the grief holding out for so long before she needed to lay down.

"Both of them?"

Maggie lowered her head in a sign of respect and comfort. "I'm very sorry for your loss, ma'am."

"My dear pups. I had many litters in my time. No one thinks I remember each other, but I do." She whined again, letting the deep breaths create a cloud of dust from the dirt beneath her. "Max was a fearless little thing. We have a pond with this big, aggressive goose and he would bark away, trying to chase him off. And Aristotle. He had to get into everything. The basement. The barn. So curious about the world."

"Sunshine," Jake gently spoke. He wasn't sure what he could say or do. He had been there. He was still there. There was never anything to be done to keep the pain away. "Is there any you can tell us that can help?"

"Anyone you know who would want to hurt them?" Maggie added.

"I d-"

"What is going on here!?" a voice yelled out in the distance.

Everyone looked to the front of the house where the investigators were talking to an elderly husband and wife. A younger man, short and stocky, stomping out of the house was the cause of the commotion. A few more terse words were exchanged between Gibbs and the newcomer, but the volume was too low to hear anything else. Jake couldn't see a trace of either Candice or Austin.

The entrance of the man cause Sunshine's ears to flatten against her head.

"I wonder..." she trailed off. "That's their son, Scott. Paula and Tom have been fighting with him about money. It's always a problem; has been since he was a teen. Lately, though..."

"How bad?" Jake inquired, sensing where this was going.

"Bad. Hostile even. He knows he can't do much without losing his inheritance. And Paula and Tom, they love being breeders. They love what they do."  
>Maggie looked at Jake. "Motive," she told him.<p>

"He would have records of his parents' clients," Jake added.

"So, that's means. It's worth looking into."

The dull lull within the group of humans got louder and Scott started backing away, shouting at the investigators.

Tony held his hands up to calm the stressed man, the other two agents had their hands to their guns at the potential threat and Gibbs was poised in a tense way that either meant he was going to run the suspect down or calmly let the man knock himself out for even having the idea of fleeing.

"Easy..." Tony soothed.

"No! No! I did nothing wrong!"

McGeek picked up with trying to ease the man. "We're not accusing you of anything."

"Mags! Jake!" Just as they heard the call from their fearless leader, Scott ran, heading accross the fields and towards the woods in an assumed attempt to escape.

The two dogs looked at each other.

Jake and Maggie talked about this same conundrum several times and they only talked about it at night. It was a fear that could only be shared between canines and never, ever be talked about during the light of day.

The simple truth was that a dog caught biting a human was an instant death sentence for them. It never mattered if it was justified.

To bite was to die.

But humans are slow and this man killed two of their own.

In silent agreement, they took off to chase the suspect.

'Can't bite, can't bite,' Jake repeated in his head and, as he got closer to the fleeing man, he tried to figure out the best way to grab a pant leg without taking in flesh.

It was a second too late before he realized the German Shepherd he felt running behind him was, in fact, not Maggie.

Sunshine not only caught up to him, she ran past him with a speed that could only be powered by determination.

Scott was just about to clear the field and make a run into the woods when Sunshine caught up to him.

She wasn't thinking about the dangers of biting a human.

The barking and the scream that followed when she chomped down on his shoulder was going to follow Jake for awhile.

"Sunshine!" Jake yelled as he came up to them. "He's down! Get off! Get off!"

Just like a switch, she stopped her attack. Once she was certain the moans of pain meant he wasn't moving anytime soon, she sat down. She was docile and excepting of her fate.

"Bitch. Stupid bitch," Scott groaned.

Jake just stood there in shock. He wasn't sure what to do.

Sunshine looked directly at him. "No one thinks I remember my pups," she told him. "I remember every playful yip and growl. No one should take that away."

The rest of the humans ran past Jake, causing him to back up and away until he ran literally ran into Maggie.

"Jake," Maggie acknowledged, looking up and down to make sure he wasn't injured.

"Stupid bitch," Scott kept on whimpering, tears streaming down his face in pain. "Did nothin' wrong. Stupid bitch kept at me. Just stupid dog. Bitch couldn't leave a stupid dog."

He was talking about Petty Officer Hannah Parker, Jake realized. A woman who fought and risked her life for her country had fought and died to protect the dog she loved.

'Humanity.' Jake thought. 'Indeed.'


	10. Chapter 10

Candice and Jake finished the case just like they started; watching a group of humans doing their job and bringing a killer to justice.

From a safe distance, of course.

Gibbs looked up from his supervision of the arrest and locked eyes on the two animals.

Jake took a look at the cat sitting beside him and realized the two alphas were having their staring contest again. He looked back in time to see the human nod to the cat, acknowledging a peer, and returned to his work with neither harm nor confrontation.

"I won't think less of you if you go with them."

Candice's sudden words confused him. "Why would I go?"

"I trust them, Jake. They'll find you a good home. You can have a family again."

A family. That was strange concept to think about. It was a thought so scary that he refused to think about ever since Sam passed away.

It sounded nice. An endless supply of tennis balls. Never having to worry about when his next meal was going to be. Loving someone and being loved in return.

Except other thoughts came to mind.

He remembered playing tag with Maggie in the back alleys of downtown DC like they were puppies again. Austin, who didn't really understand why Jake would whine at night, still curled up beside the grieving dog and kept on purring, letting the comforting sounds lull them both to sleep.

Then, there was Candice. She was studying him right now with a look much similar to one she had on the first day they met.

One of potential. One of promise.

He still wasn't able figure out why she asked him to join her pack back then and he so desperately wanted to know what she sees in him.

"I think I'm good right now," he told her. "The whole house with a roof and a fenced yard is overrated anyway."

She flicked her ears and he knew he said the right thing.

"Good to hear, Probie."

"Probie?"

"Well, I have a feeling we'll be running into these humans again. We might as well get use to using the lingo."

Jake groaned. Maggie and Austin would love the new nickname. He could almost hear the ribbing now.

"Probie!"

In his need to curse the heavens, he looked down to an empty spot and realized Candice was already heading out.

"Come!"

Ever the obedient dog, he followed.

And the end! This was a fun little AU-type story to play into and maybe I'll continue along with it in the future. There's always some animal in need of a voice...Mine is currently meowing for food and attention (preferably in that order). Hoped you enjoyed!


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